Gingerbread Junction

We awoke to falling snow and found our elf Relphie hiding above one of the doors. The girls were so excited to see that he followed us to Sunriver.

We watched movies and played games until lunch and then headed over to the lodge to look at the gingerbread display. It wasn't as big as I thought it would be but was fun to look at. Here are some of our favorite houses.

Love the use of candy canes on this house.

Habitat for Humanity did a great job.

The girls loved the Princess display.

A 5 and 10 year old created this Manger scene.

Jack Skelington in The Nightmare Before Christmas

K loved this castle with the dragon and moat.

Mrs. Clause in her kitchen.

After looking at the houses, we headed home to put on our snow clothes and headed to the tubing hill. Unfortunately, when we got there they were closing for the day so we headed back home to create some snow fun of our own. We had a terrific time making snowmen, building forts, and making a sled run.

I am always amazed at my hubby's warmth in the winter time.

Mark making the mid-section of our snowman.

 It took two guys to lift the middle onto the snowman.

Sean with the head.

My dwarf snowman.

The Gangsta Snowman and family.

They gave mine a face too.

The girls fort.

M's sled run.

K getting ready to go down the slide on her sled.

We had a lot of fun playing in the snow. Tomorrow we plan on trying the tubing slope again. Hopefully it will be open. Only two more days until Christmas!

Winter Wonderland

We headed out to our Christmas destination yesterday. We left cold rain and found beautiful snow. On our way we had to stop to put on some snow chains because the roads were so slick. M got them on but it took a couple of tries to get them nice and tight. The girls were so excited to see all the snow, they have never seen snow deeper then a few inches before and were amazed by the huge snow drifts on the sides of the road. We saw several snow plows and explained to them what they were and how they worked. I haven't seen this much snow since I moved out here from Missouri, I was in snow paradise.

M took the girls outside to play in the snow while I unpacked our bags, food and other items . The cousins went too and they had a blast. The girls wouldn't stop eating the snow.

Playing on the merry-go-round at the park near our house.

 N and his girlfriend Helena

K lounging in the snow.

 Mika and her boyfriend, Sean getting pummeled by snowballs from the girls.

Mmmm, tasty.

 K's Snow Angel

M had made a mohawk out of icicles but most of it broke 

off leaving only a unicorn horn for his cold head.

The girls loved the icicles on everything.

When the girls came back from playing M said that L kept saying over and over again that she hated snow. I asked her about it and she said the snow was too deep and she couldn't walk in it, she kept falling down. I can understand, it was up to her knees and deeper in some places. But she wanted to go out in it again later. After all the snow fun the girls warmed up in the hot tub for a little bit. They also got to decorate the tree after we had dinner. They did a great job.

Preschool Christmas Program

L had her preschool Christmas program on Thursday. There were three classes who sang. L's class went last, they did a great job on their three songs:
Yes Lord, Yes Lord
Chubby Little Snowman
Saving Our Sorrows
Then all three classes sang We Wish You a Merry Christmas. It was nice seeing all the kids smile and sing for their parents. After we enjoyed some cookies and punch.

All I Want for Christmas

K lost one of her front teeth two months ago and I was hoping she would lose her other front tooth in time for Christmas. It was pretty loose for a few days and then one day she came home from school and told me how it happened. She was eating her lunch and her tooth was so loose she could push it flat in her mouth. She went to the girls bathroom were she pulled and twisted until it popped out. She sent her friend, Emily, to get something from the teacher to put it in. She was so excited to put it under her pillow that night.
She left a note for the tooth fairy asking for a picture and said she might not believe in her any more if she didin't leave a note. So cute. She didn't get a picture but she did finally get her Sacajawea coin she has been hoping for. She looks so cute with her toothless smile. All she wants for Christmas if her two front teeth.

Christmas Traditions

Growing up my family had a few Christmas Traditions we liked to do. We got a tree and decorated it together. We watched all the Christmas movies on television while making cookies. We listened to Christmas music while looking at lights around town on Christmas Eve followed by putting out cookies and milk for Santa along with lettuce, carrots, and water for the reindeer. I loved these traditions and looked forward to them every year. M and I have continued these traditions with our girls and added a few more along the way.

Christmas Books
Every night we read a Christmas book with the girls before bed. They love to hear the stories and it helps us get into the spirit of Christmas. This year I found a great idea on pinterest to make picking the books more fun. M and I wrapped each book up and put them under the tree. The girls get to take turns picking a book and unwrapping it to read. This makes it more fun and they don't bicker about which book to read that night.

An Advent Calendar
I made this beautiful advent calendar last year at Super Saturday. I made up pictures of movies, service, cookie making, gingerbread decorating, and many other activities and put them in each of the 25 squares. The girls take turn each morning pulling out a card from the days pocket and reading what the activity will be for that evening. It gives the girls something to look forward to and creates family time and memories.

Ward Christmas Dinner
Every year we go to church and participate in the Christmas dinner and program. The Primary children re-enact the Nativity Story, the Young Women sing a song or two and our musically talented church members do a few numbers as well. Then all of us sing some songs together while Santa visits the children from the North Pole. The girls always want to see Santa, though when he actually arrives they are a little scared of him. This year they were both able to sit on his lap and tell him their desired Christmas gift. K asked for a FurReal Kitty and L asked for a remote-control boat. We all got candy canes after.

Gingerbread Houses
The past few years we have been joining our friends at our neighbors house and decorating gingerbread houses with the kids. There are usually seven families with a total of 20 children 12 and under (eighteen of them under 8). One person makes all the gingerbread pieces and the rest of us bring icing and candy to decorate with. It is messy and the kids load up on sugar but it is so fun! This year our house had too much candy on the roof and it collapsed by the time we headed for home. To be honest, I was kind of glad we didn't have to find a place to stash it until Christmas. We just threw it out.

 

Ornaments
Every year I get an ornament for the girls that represents something they did or learned during the year. It's a fun way to document achievements from the year and will give them a nice set of ornaments to adorn their trees when they move out on their own. I even get an ornament for myself or M if something exciting has happened. This year I went to San Francisco for the first time and while there I bought a trolley ornament that says 2012 on it. I love that our tree is eclectic and displays all the major events and activities we have participated in over the years of our marriage.

I hope you have some special traditions that you do with your family and that you have an amazing, loving and spiritual Christmas this year!

An Unfalling Tree

I don't know how many of you remember this post, but this year we remedied that situation. M build me a very sturdy tree stand this year to insure the tree stays put!

He not only made this very sturdy box that raised my short tree up about a foot, but he screwed the tree stand into the box multiple times. This baby ain't goin' no where!

Last night we helped the girls decorate the tree. It is very short and skinny compared to the trees we usually get but it only cost $10 dollars so not too shabby and we didn't have to rearrange our furniture to fit it in the house this year.

We put mostly ornaments that my hubby has made out of metal the past few years, a few snowmen and some fabric ornaments. L got to top the tree with our angel this year.

I love looking at our little Christmas tree all lit up. It is so pretty and smells really good. Hope you are able to get your tree up soon and you have no disasters like ours last year. Let the festivities begin!

Don't Eat Turkey...

We headed to my in-laws for Thanksgiving again this year. There was extensive work done cleaning up the woods on their property. Huge branches were drug out to the field and then burned. This gave everyone a hearty appetite for the tasty prime rib dinner we enjoyed.
Being the puzzling family we are, we put together six puzzles in two days time.The girls enjoyed playing with their grandma, the neighbors granddaughters, riding the ATV, and making Christmas cards. It was a relaxing and enjoyable time as usual.
On Friday my hubby and I got up when our bodies told us to, got ready, ate breakfast and then moseyed into town to town to do some leisurely Black Friday shopping. I have not yet succumbed to the craziness of getting up at 4am for a great sale. Maybe one of these days my friends will convince me to go with them.

M and K in front of one of the HUGE brush piles they pulled together.

Around the dinner table.

All but one of our puzzles.

The girls brought home some cute Thanksgiving decorations. K made the above turkey, I love the conversation bubble. L brought home the turkey below with feathers saying she is grateful for cowboy boots, mommy, daddy, sister, and food.